Valentino Rossi : "Pedro Acosta is The New Super Hero.."

In Catalan test Valentino Rossi did 72 laps and got his fastest time on lap 62, with a time of 1:40,050 and was in 10th position. In this test, Valentino Rossi did not do a lot of testing of new spare parts, only to review the obstacles that occurred yesterday during the race.

"This test we tried to find out why we were slower in the race than I expected seeing from my race pace in Warming up and FP4, today I wasn't too bad either, I was always in the top 10, as I always have been during the weekend. On this test we didn't really have much to try a new part, I tried some suspensions, I tried new Michelin tires, and tried bigger disc breaks for the Austrian race. On the bike I tried to improve the traction and acceleration and also tried to improve my feeling for the bike, and I'm happy because I got a good pace especially in the afternoon and I feel quite strong."

About the 2nd penalty that was received by Fabio Quartararo, Valentino Rossi tried to describe from a wider picture “For me right now there is a lot of confusion, and it seems that in this difficult situation, it is never clear what happened. So you never know what's going to happen an hour or two hours after the race, because there's a lot of confusion, and I don't think the rules are very clear, and also a lot of rules that you can read that the Stewards Panel will decide what to do. So this means that at any moment it can change, every rider, every race, every category will probably have a different reaction and this creates a lot of confusion."

Yesterday's Moto3 race was also his concern, Valentino Rossi had said yesterday that he felt scared when he saw the Moto3 race, “For me it is dangerous and I don't enjoy the race because I am always tense and worried. I don't think it's easy to fix this situation, but maybe there is a way, where they (Race Direction) have to have a serious talk with riders who are considered dangerous, not as a group but actually talk one by one. If the rider does something dangerous it should be discussed that maybe in the next race he will not have to take part in the race. Since they have to pay more attention in this situation, they have to improve their performance, and this means it will be a lot of work. But sometimes it's not easy."

Regarding the rumors about Pedro Acosta being recruited by Sky VR46 in Moto2 Valentino firmly denied it "Yes I read about this, but it's not true, of course we are happy, because Pedro Acosta is the new Super Hero, but I don't think we will recruit him. We will continue with our project and will continue with the Academy riders. "

Jonas Folger won't be racing for MotoGP 2018

All fans will be very happy if they will have their own rider from their own country. But not every country gets a rider who can race in MotoGP. I myself am from Indonesia and until now we don't have any rider who is able to join MotoGP again, since we had Doni Tata Pradita long time ago.

And just now, as the first test approaching, I read the MotoGP news that Jonas Folger, the only rider at this time from Germany, finally will not race again for whole 2018. It's very sad news, but he was already not able to race since Motegi 2017 due his health condition.

Jonas Folger announced he won't be racing in 2018 as he does not feel physically and mentally ready for joining this championship. Of course he is also very sad  but for him the important for now is to bring his mental and physical health again.

Team manager Herve Poncharal also was shocked by the decision but totally respect it.

Not easy to understand because he's still a very young and he was also very fast when he got a chance to join to MotoGP at the end of 2016, and he proved his talent when he was challenging Marc Marquez for victory at the German Grand Prix in July 2017.. But sometime we can not see the inside and don't know how hard this championship is. 

So this is why I don't like when some fans "booing" another rider who is not their favorite one. I have my one favorite rider in MotoGP but I always respect all of them because they put all their life to be so competitive and to be safe in the track.

Get well soon Jonas Folger hope you can be back soon on the track.

How to reach Chang International Circuir for MotoGP 2018 (BuriramGP)

As per request to me from DM on twitter and Instagram, I  decided to give some information about how to go to Chang International Circuit. As we knew 2018 will be very special for all MotoGP fans, especially in Asia, because MotoGP for the first time will be held in Thailand October 7. But before, there will be a test, already on February 16-18.
I have already been to the Chang International Circuit for three times, visiting World Superbike in 2015, when it was held there for the first time, then again in 2016 and 2017.

Each year the circuit and the area has improve a lot. The first time it was difficult to find a hotel, even find food, but the infrastructure was improved since, now everything can be found right around the circuit. We can find a lot of food, from traditional Thai to international one. Also shops are right in that area, providing you with everything you need.

The first hotel we had in 2015 was a little far away, but already in 2016 we found a nice hotel nearby. So I am sure that accommodation and food will not be a problem, except, every hotel is already booked out for the time of the Grand Prix.

Chang International Circuit also not only preparing well for all the spectator but also for the journalist whose come for working there, they have very big media center with very good free wifi and also very good free food and drink. So all the journalist can working without worry.

For the riders as long from my experience in WSBK beside Pit box, all the riders can have they hospitality on the container box complete with Air conditioner but some teams also built their own hospitalities.

As my experience there, because the weather was so hot, a lot of ri
ders brought inflatable swimming pools and had a bath after every practice and race. They did not only put water, but also ice blocks into these pools. It became a normal view watching the riders pooling.

The podium was on the other side of the main straight and all the riders got their bungees taking them there.

But how to get to the Chang International Circuit? You can other fly to Bangkok and take a rental car. Will take you about five hours driving, it is quite tiring.. But the roads are good and it is easy to find. You can also book flights from Bangkok to Buri Ram, from Buri Ram airport it is only half an hour driving. I predict they will also have shuttle buses for the October event, but that only my prediction, not really know how it will be.

But this circuit is really worth it to visit, not only because of the track have a great corner, and not also because of the delicious food but they also give us lot of place for good and lovely place to take some photo for memory. On the way to the circuit they have big sign "Destination of Speed". will be great place for a photo shoot.

So let's come and join the first ever MotoGP race in Thailand and find the real meaning of the Destination of speed.

Why do MotoGP riders crash more year by year?

Marc Márquez became the youngest six-time world champion of all time at the age of 24 this year. But he has set yet another record: Never before has someone become world champion with 27 crashes in one season. "27 and a half," he admits himself. "Because the save in Valencia could easily have ended on the asphalt." But Márquez is not the only one to drive up the statistics. In the last eight years, the number of crashes in the Motorcycle World Championship has almost doubled. In 2009 there were 642, this year 1126.

Marc Márquez: 27 crashes in 2017        pic: motogp.com

For many observers it is clear: riders always take full risk. Racetracks and protective gear become safer, they fear less and fall more. "In my days, the racetracks were much more dangerous," recalls 15-time World Champion Giacomo Agostini. "The helmets and the leathers were also far from what the riders wear today. That's why we just could not fall. I withdrew before each race because I was feared to death and I did not want to share it with the others. There were so many mortal crashes at that time that you always had it in mind. "

Giacomo Agostini           pic by Imre Paulovits

Two times World Champion Dieter Braun, who rode in the same era, agrees. "In our time guardrails, trees or curbs limited the tracks, the risk of serious injury or death was much higher. Now there is a lot of runoff space today plus an additional piece of asphalt, on which you can ride a wide line. Riding has simply become safer.” Braun appreciates the big difference to today's development. "We did not have a lobby at the time. Today, Franco Uncini is safety representative at the FIM, he inspects the tracks, and if anything is not right for him, there will be no race there. Also, the protectors and in recent times the airbag have shown much positive effect. But the riders crash much more today, because their fear is much less. "

Dieter Braun          pic by Imre Paulovits

In addition, in recent years, the competitiveness has increased in all classes, so each place must be fought harder and for a top spot you have to risk more. In the premier class, there has been such balance in the past two years that in 2016 there were nine different winners and in 2017 the battle for the title raged between five riders and the title was decided in the last race. And the MotoGP title is about so much prestige and money that some of the very best are willing to take very extreme risks.
Marc Márquez, who is an extremist in this respect, admits quite frankly: "This year I was so at the limit that crashes belonged to my strategy to understand the limit exactly. If I had not crashed so often in practice, I would not have understood the limit for the races so well and would have crashed more in the races at the risk we had to go. "

" Had he done that in our time, he would have died at five of six crashes, "says Giacomo Agostini. "That's his way. If he does not hurt himself, that's fine," dismisses Dieter Braun. "Only for the risk, he took at the last race in Valencia, I would have had clear words as his team manager." But the approach of Márquez is not really new. Wayne Rainey did it the same way once, though not with quite so many falls. Unfortunately, for him finally it had a bad ending.

What really stands out, though, is that during the last two years the crashes in MotoGP have escalated, while they have even dropped in the smallest class. And these are the two years since Michelin took over the control tires of MotoGP from Bridgestone. At first it was easy to explain that the French manufacturer had a different tire design than its Japanese predecessor, and the riders and the designers had to get used to the change and Michelin to the needs of the class. Bridgestone had a grippy front tire, Michelin had a better rear tire, so front wheel crashes were inevitable. However, since then, the French and also the chassis builders have done immense development effort, nevertheless, the number of falls over the season has not declined. Partly it was due to rookie Sam Lowes´ 31 falls and world champion Marc Márquez´ 27 that raised the statistics, but there is also more behind the numbers.

Sam Lowes: record braking 31 crashes in 2017    pic by motogp.com

"With Bridgestone, things were much easier," says Stefan Prein, riding coach at the Estrella Galicia Marc VDS team and winner of the 1990 Yugoslavian Grand Prix. "There was a wide range of performance, but even there you could see that if the tires were not used properly and cooled out, people crashed." Michelin initially wanted to bring tires that work over a wide temperature range, are as universal as possible and satisfy all. 

Stefan Prein        pic by Imre Paulovits

Then Michelin had to understand that this is simply not possible at the level of performance and the competitiveness of MotoGP and had to rethink the requirements. The new competitiveness of MotoGP and the desire of even more manufacturers and riders to win have pushed the fight at the limit once again into a new direction. "Who wants to win in MotoGP today, must create a very clever tire management with his technicians ", Prein knows. "Due to the asymmetric tires, one of the main problems is that even when racetracks are relatively cold, like this year's Misano, the rider already has to challenge the tire very close to the limit in the outlet lap, otherwise they will cool down so much that they never get back to their performance. And in that lap, the rider just builds up the feeling, sometimes even with a new setup, so this is particularly difficult. So, we had a lot of crashes this year, mostly over the front wheel, because at this stage, the tire did not have the correct operating temperature." The asymmetric front tires also have another difficulty. "Last year in Australia, for example, the problem was that the transition from the hard center to the softer side was exactly where people fell," Prein says. "Because the temperature difference between these two compounds within the tire was almost unimaginable for the rider. If then the track temperature has changed, the riders were sometimes confused. Cal Crutchlow crashed two laps from the end, and he did nothing else than the previous lap. In the meantime, Michelin has brought other tires there."

Cal Crutchlow       pic by motogp.com

The problem in the fight for the last fractions of a second, however, remains. "Jack Miller told me it's getting harder and harder to find the confidence to properly push the tires in the first few laps. Marc Márquez has confirmed this to me. And today, MotoGP racers need to be able to get their full performance from zero to a hundred the moment they pass the lights at the pit exit. There is no outlet lap anymore, where you slowly look left and right, how it feels. Lorenzo and Márquez are doing very well, and the other top drivers are getting better and better. They go out, and already in Split 2 of the outlet lap they are close to the ideal time. That is one of the reasons for the many crashes: Because the rest hasn´t got their feel and understanding. A MotoGP racer who is only hard on the throttle is long past. The focus today is on understanding the tire and tire management.”

Young Jack Miller      pic by motogp.com

Racing is exciting, and crashes pump up our excitement, especially if our favorite rider crashes out. But they also make races more unpredictable. Thanks to all the safety measures, riders get less and less hurt, and when from next year on air bag systems will be compulsory in all classes, we should reach a new level of safety. But let´s hope, engine, chassis and tire development also goes the way that riders will crash less in the future. Because with every single crash a rider is challenging his fortune.

statistic byDorna

statistic by Dorna

statistic by Dorna

statistic by Dorna

statistic by Dorna